ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: Has a non-singing bass player been the lead songwriter in a major band?

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: Has a non-singing bass player been the lead songwriter in a major band?

QUESTION: Has a non-singing bass player been the lead songwriter in a major band? 

There are lead-singing bass-playing superstars throughout pop music: Sting, Paul McCartney, Lemmy Kilmister and Phil Lynott spring to mind, but non-singing band leaders are rare.

The standout example has to be Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. When you think of Iron Maiden, the operatic gymnastics of frontman Bruce Dickinson and the evocative cover art probably spring to mind, yet behind it all is Harris, who has written most of Maiden’s output, which includes classics of the genre such as Hallowed Be Thy Name, The Number Of The Beast, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Run To The Hills and Infinite Dreams. Harris is completely self-taught, and his bass-playing has given Iron Maiden their signature galloping style.

Black Sabbath’s bassist, Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler, was the principal lyricist for his group and responsible for writing classics such as War Pigs, Paranoid and N.I.B. Unlike Harris, Butler didn’t write all the music, which was a collaboration with Tony Iommi, adding Black Sabbath’s signature riffs, and Ozzy Osbourne causing a stir as frontman.

Nikki Sixx, the co-founder and bassist of American bad boy heavy metal band Motley Crue, and primary songwriter of the band, penned songs such as Shout At The Devil, Looks That Kill, Wild Side and Girls, Girls, Girls.

Douglas Glenn Colvin, aka Dee Dee Ramone, was the bassist with punk rockers the Ramones. He wrote many of the band’s best-known songs, including Rockaway Beach and Poison Heart.

Gary Stevens, Hinckley, Leics 

Adrian Smith, Nicko McBrain, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris and Dave Murray of Iron Maiden

QUESTION: What is the meaning of ‘the mirror and the light’ in Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light?

The Mirror And The Light was the final part of the Wolf Hall trilogy written by Hilary Mantel. The book begins in 1536, shortly after the execution of Anne Boleyn, and ends in 1540 with Thomas Cromwell’s own execution.

Before incandescent bulbs, the light of a candle was often magnified by placing it in front of a mirror to reflect the rays back into the room. Mantel weaves this idea as a metaphor throughout the story.

The title comes directly from a line Cromwell offers Henry VIII, saying: ‘What should I want with the Emperor if he were Emperor of all the world? Your Majesty is the only prince, the mirror and the light of other kings.’ Here Cromwell is flattering the king, where all others are a mere reflection of his light.

But light is fleeting, as those who attempt to please difficult masters soon find out: ‘If Henry is the mirror, he is the pale actor who sheds no lustre of his own, but spins in a reflected light. If the light moves he is gone.’

Sarah Westwood, Birmingham

QUESTION: In linguistics, what is meant by stunt words, ghost words and pseudowords?

Stunt words are deliberate inventions often created for linguistic or playful purposes, designed to attract attention. Dr Seuss was a master: ‘Sometimes I feel quite certain there’s a jertain in the curtain’.

Ghost words are errors that entered dictionaries or linguistic records but have no real origin or usage in authentic language. 

Tomorrow’s questions:

Q:Following the recent discovery of tubarial glands, what are some parts of the human body you never knew you had?

Emma Butler, Cardiff

Q: Who coined the term ultra-processed food? What foods fall into this category?

Mark Saunders, Sandown, Isle of Wight

Q: Is there a difference between casserole and stew?

Shirley Cawley, Peterborough, Cambs

They arise from misinterpretations, typographical errors or editorial mistakes. 

The term was coined by Professor Walter William Skeat in 1886, in a yearly address to the London Philological Society.

Skeat criticised several erroneous words. These included abacot, the misspelling of ‘a bycoket’ (a type of headwear) and kimes, a misspelling of ‘knives’.

The most famous ghost word was ‘dord’, which appeared in a 1934 Merriam-Webster dictionary due to a misunderstanding of an abbreviation (‘D or d’ for density).

Pseudowords are non-existent but pronounceable words created for experimental or educational purposes. Unlike stunt words, they lack intended meaning but adhere to language rules. 

The most famous pseudoword was ‘wug’ from the Wug Test conducted by Jean Berko Gleason in 1958. It studied children’s understanding of linguistics. A child is presented with an imaginary object and is told, ‘This is a wug’. Then a second object is presented and the child is asked what the two are called, the correct answer being ‘wugs’.

Pseudowords allow the subject not only to read them but work with them. For example, if you were asked to conjugate the verb ‘to blenk’, you should be able to say, ‘I blenk. He blenks. I blenked…’ etc.

Martin Webber, Pangbourne, Berks

Source link

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top